Food News: Combustion’s Clintonville Taproom Opens Soon; Local Chef to Relocate

Openings & Announcements

Combustion Brewery & Taproom owners Keith and Sarah Jackson are preparing to celebrate the opening of their second location Saturday, Aug. 13, in Clintonville. The taproom at 2971 N. High St., which previously housed Lineage Brewing, will offer a wide variety of craft beers and ciders on tap as well as brews to-go. Customers will be able to order food from nearby restaurants and light snacks will be available at the bar. Doors to the Clintonville taproom open at 11 a.m. Saturday. This is the first expansion for Combustion, which first opened in Pickerington in April 2017. Last year, the brewery took home gold from the Ohio Craft Brewers Cup for its Lady Peiskos New England IPA. 

The Crest location at 621 Parsons Ave., which has been shut down since the early days of the pandemic, will reopen as a new concept: The Mercury Diner. The new Schumacher Place diner joins the family of restaurants owned by A&R Creative Group, which include The Market: Food & Drink, The Crest on Indianola Avenue and Alchemy Café.

Closings

The teppanyaki-style steakhouse Daruma Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi has shut down its 5261 Westpointe Plaza location in Hilliard, citing labor shortages and increased operating costs. The Mill Run location of Daruma, located at 3939 Ridge Mill Drive, remains open. 

Chef Moves

Chef Catie Randazzo, who ran the popular Challah! Food Truck and co-owned bygone Ambrose and Eve, announced on social media that they are moving to Los Angeles in the upcoming weeks. It appears to be the end of an era for the amiable chef, who has practically grown up in the Columbus food scene. In recent years, Randazzo co-founded Preston’s: A Burger Joint with chef Matthew Heaggans. Then in the fall of 2018, the pair opened Ambrose and Eve, named after Randazzo’s grandparents, on South High Street. That restaurant was named one of Columbus Monthly’s 10 Best Restaurants in 2019, but then ran into financial straits exacerbated by the pandemic. Ambrose and Eve closed in 2020, and the space is being taken over by chef Avishar Barua. Most recently, Randazzo served a brief stint as executive chef at Strongwater Food and Spirits. Stay tuned for details about Randazzo’s future plans.